A/N: Didn't mean to update this late in the day, but my Sunday kinda ran away from me. For everyone finishing up their semester...good luck with finals, I know it's that time of year.

After this chapter, five more left. Let me know what you think :)

Today was the first day Paige felt like herself in a long time. She finally felt like a badass DEA Agent again, one that wasn't ruled by her emotions and not someone that spent her nights crying over the guy that broke her heart. Although, in her defense she thought Mike died. Then she thought she killed him. She was still overly emotional, but she wasn't a basket case anymore. Last night was the first night she managed to get some sleep without waking up or having nightmares of Mike dying in her arms. Aside from the obvious reason that she actually got real sleep, before waking up to sit at Mike's bedside in the middle of the night, it was a good indication that she would be able to sleep in her own room once Mike got discharged from the hospital.

Once Mike got home, she had to decide what she was going to do and if his decision was going to factor into hers.

She was still undecided about leaving Graceland. She wasn't sure when she'd be able to go back in the field. If she'd be able to go back in the field. At a time like this, she really wished she hadn't lost touch with Lauren and Donnie. But she never repaired her relationship with Lauren after reporting her to the DEA. Calling Lauren out of the blue to ask her if it was hard to transition out of Graceland probably wouldn't be the best idea. But she needed to put all her uncertainty about her career aside and focus on making sure Sid paid for what he did to Mike.

Not only did she get real sleep last night, but today marked the first day she didn't fight with Mike since she went under as a tinkerbell. Mike came clean about having a tape of Briggs accidentally killing Badillo and that he originally planned to arrest Briggs after busting him at the Solano compound, but that obviously didn't happen.

"Does Briggs know you have the tape?" Paige asked, sitting down on the edge of his hospital bed. Briggs knowing that Mike had the tape could explain Briggs' behavior, why he was so adamant about killing Sid. Maybe she didn't need to be so suspicious of him, maybe he wasn't out to get Mike. Because if Briggs got all of them involved with a murder, they'd be more likely to keep quiet about him killing Badillo.

"I don't know. He hasn't said anything. He thinks Charlie has it. Unless she told him - "

"They don't lie to each other."

Mike bitterly laughed, "Maybe she doesn't lie to him, but he kept this from her. Not just the stuff about Badillo. But Odin Rossi, he kept that from her for years."

Paige sighed, realizing that Mike was right. But she couldn't deal with that now. "Do you know where the tape is?"

"The warehouse I was in when you - when - " Mike shook his head and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "I hid it in there. As far as I know it's still there."

Mike was lucky he didn't have it with him when he was at the hospital. Since Briggs faked his death, he had access to all of his personal effects. There was no telling what Briggs might have done if he had found the tape. Paige shook her head, not wanting to focus on Briggs right now. Mike's main goal was clearing his name and putting Sid behind bars, so that was her main goal. He couldn't deal with both Briggs and Sid at the same time. Since Briggs killing Badillo was accidental, what happened to Briggs was Charlie's call and it seemed like Charlie was willing to put it behind her.

Paige shoved the bag from the card store into her tote bag and fumbled for her wallet as she approached the coffee shop.

"Karen?"

Paige froze when she heard Sid's voice.

"Agent Bradford?"

Forcing a smile onto her face, she turned to greet him. "Hi."

Sid held up a newspaper and gestured to an article, "I was just reading about your colleague. I'm sorry to hear he didn't make it. I didn't even make it to the hospital to arrest him. I got held up making sure all the paperwork was in order, and by the time it was, I was too late."

Paige adjusted her bag on her shoulder, wishing she had her gun with her. But she had left it in the car. She seriously didn't think she needed it to go buy a picture frame and grab a latte. It was probably a good thing she didn't have her gun with her, because she would probably shoot Sid at point blank range and deal with the consequences later. But a quick death would be too good for Sid. He deserved to suffer, like Mike suffered.

Mike.

The last thing he wanted was for any of them to kill Sid. Even now, even with what Sid did to him and how he used the system against him, Mike believed in the system. That was the whole reason why she turned Mike over to Sid, because he believed in the system. But instead of arresting Mike, Sid tried to kill him. Believed he killed him and he had the nerve to offer her condolences.

She couldn't stop herself from reaching out for the newspaper to get a closer look at the article he mentioned, despite purposefully avoiding the newspapers for this very reason. She knew it was about the massacre at the Solano compound. A massacre that Sid orchestrated and Mike was taking the fall for. She knew Briggs arranged for the article to appear in the paper, it wasn't the first. But to see it in print was jarring.

Mike was alive. She had to keep reminding herself that Mike was alive.

Paige blinked back tears as she traced her fingers over the picture of Mike's face. This was his official FBI picture, less than a few years old, but he looked so young and green, like the rookie she barely remembered. Was his first summer at Graceland really last year? A rush of memories flashed through her mind. The first time she saw him. Their many walks along the beach. Him playing his I got stabbed card to get out of putting a tracking device on Briggs' truck. Hearing him say marijuana farmer. Playing beach football with Johnny. Joking about his not so walk of shame as the get laid parade and teaching him a few tricks on how to act if he was under as a heroin junkie. Sharing his secret spoon hiding spot. Their first kiss.

"Karen, are you okay? Can I get you something?"

Paige shook her head, "No, I'm fine," Paige quickly said, snapping back into the present and focusing on the fact that Sid was watching her every move instead of getting lost in the past. He called her Karen, the alias she gave him when she met him. He was trying to see what she knew. If she knew anything about him killing Mike.

The only thing that prevented her from screaming or flipping out right now was that Sid was analyzing her every move. Waiting for her to slip up. Looking for any indication that she knew what he did. As far as she knew, Sid didn't suspect Mike wasn't dead. His only concern was figuring out if he was a suspect in Mike's death.

"It's tragic," Paige whispered, handing him back the newspaper. "He - he was a good guy, but he lost his way."

"You two were close?"

Her blood pressure rose with every word that spilled out of Sid's mouth. He had zero right to know anything about her relationship with Mike. He didn't even deserve to say his name. "We worked together a few times. He..." her voice trailed off, unsure if she could do this. She had been with the DEA for years and encountered more horrible men than she could count. Men that were pure evil. Men like Sulla and Carlito that profited off girls. A few months ago, she never would've imagined that there would be men worse than Sulla. But men like Sid were even worse. He swore to protect the law and protect those that couldn't protect themselves, but instead he protected the monsters so he could fill his safety deposit boxes with money earned by selling girls.

Everything about him was a lie. From his phony smile to his fake condolences.

He disgusted her. She wanted to claw his eyes out or wrap her hands around his throat and squeeze the life out of him. Deprive him of the oxygen he deprived Mike of until he flatlined. Watch him suffer. Beg for his life. See the life slip out of his eyes.

Did Mike suffer? How long was it before his lungs gave out? How aware was he of what was going on that day? She hadn't asked Mike what happened that day. She wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it or forget. Or maybe she was the one that desperately wanted to forget everything about that day. Forgiving Mike. Finding out he lied. Giving him up. Learning he died. Without out a doubt, that was the worst day of her life and as much as she wanted to bury it down, she was positive it would haunt her for the foreseeable future.

Her thoughts were racing and now definitely wasn't the right time to have a panic attack. It was okay if Sid saw that she was upset. He knew that Mike was more than her colleague. But Sid wasn't sure if she knew that. He was fishing for information. Baiting her to see how she would react. If she would react. She just saw Mike less than an hour ago. She knew he was okay. Knew he was safe. As much as she wanted to check in with him right this second she couldn't.

How in the world did Sid encounter her here? At her favorite coffee shop. With a newspaper article that ran four days ago. Was he waiting for her? Did he follow her here? She just left the hospital. Her blood ran cold as she realized that Mike's location could be compromised.

She needed to check in with Mike. Then Johnny. Then with Briggs to see if his friends that he had watching Graceland had seen anyone suspicious. Maybe they should put more guards on Mike at the hospital. Would it be too risky for Mike to change hospitals and identities? Was he stable enough to moved to a safe house?

"He - yes, we used to be close," Paige quietly said, trying to focus on Sid, not the paper Sid was holding. Before she could check in with anyone, she needed to get rid of Sid without arousing any suspicion. If that meant she had to stand here with a smile on her face and accept condolences from the man that thought he killed him, she would. As much as she hated Sid seeing how upset she was, it helped keep her cover. "I - " Her phone was buzzing and she wasn't sure if she should answer it. On the off chance that Mike was calling her, she didn't want to risk alerting Sid that he was alive. Then again, it wasn't like she actually had Mike's burner number stored in her phone. He still hadn't given it to her. And she was afraid to upset the tentative truce they had right now by swiping it from someone's phone. Her phone buzzed again and she was grateful for the distraction, she was this close to losing it. She needed a few seconds to gather herself. She offered Sid an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I have to take this. My cousin is pregnant and she's almost due, this could be the call," she enthusiastically said, hoping her phony smile reached her eyes.

Not wanting Sid to get a glimpse at her phone, she pulled it out of her pocket and didn't glance at the screen.

"I've taken enough of your time, I have to get going. Have a nice day. Hope it's good news." Sid flashed a smile at her and walked away, as she waved at him.

"Hello?" Paige answered with a shaky breath, relieved to watch Sid walk away.

"You left the hospital two hours ago."

For once, she was grateful that Briggs was monitoring her movements. All of them were on high alert because of Sid, but she was pretty sure she was the only roommate anyone checked in on if she was gone longer than she should be. Mindful that Sid found Graceland by placing a tracking device in Mike's suit, she was trying to figure out how close Sid got to her. He already knew where the house was, but if he was trying to figure out what she knew, he could've planted a bug.

She didn't want to tip off Sid that she was onto him, so she didn't have to pretend to be Karen, but she had to be careful about what she said in case he managed to plant something on her. When she was looking at Mike's picture he could've slipped something on her or in her bag.

"Stop looking at me," Paige said, catching the lovesick look in Mike's eyes. The problem with sleeping with your roommate was that there was no mystery. He saw her when she didn't look her best, exhausted and filthy after working a long night or hungover looking disheveled. There were no secrets to her beauty regimen, he had seen her with yogurt on her face, rollers in her hair and aluminum foil on her fingertips. She was surprised she hadn't scared him off by now for resembling a space alien from time to time.

"You're beautiful," Mike murmured, brushing her hair out of her face.

"No one is beautiful in the morning," Paige insisted, burying her face in his chest. Her hair was a mess, her makeup was smudged and she barely got any sleep last night, so she was sure her eyes were puffy, if not bloodshot. Maybe both.

"You are."

She kissed her way up his chest and decided to turn the tables on him. "What about you? You're prettier than I am. So pretty it hurts," she teased. Mike rolled his eyes and she brushed her lips over his. "Even with bedhead, your hair is still perfect." She ruffled his hair, laughing as he tried moving out of her reach.

"Shut up," Mike said, wrapping his arms around her and rolling them over so she was beneath him.

"Make me."

"Paige?"

Briggs voice broke her out of her reverie. "Yeah, I'm here. I'm just getting coffee. I'll see you soon." She could update Briggs when she got home. It didn't matter if she led Sid back to Graceland, since he already knew where it was. She would have to wait to check in with Mike until she got home and was certain it was safe. "Briggs, you still there?"

"Are you sure you're okay? I can come get you if - "

"I'm fine. Have you heard from Levi? We were supposed to meet earlier and discuss some surveillance footage, but he never showed up."

"Levi? You never call Mike, Levi. Wasn't he at the hospital? Where are you?" Briggs asked, his voice filled with worry. "Are you alone? What's going on?"

"I went and I'm getting coffee now. Just text me an update. I'll be home soon." She didn't want Briggs freaking out about Mike, but she needed him to check in with Mike then check in with her.

"Are you okay? Give me something or I'm going to track your phone and come get you myself."

"I'll see you in twenty," Paige said, not wanting to mention Sid over the phone. Briggs would freak out and she was afraid she'd have a panic attack if she had to say his name right now. She would update him as soon as got home.

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